This is an SDSNedu mini-series. Unlike traditional full-length SDSNedu online courses, a mini-series is much shorter in length – just 5-6 chapters – and will be made available in its entirety on the launch date.

In this vital year for sustainable development, Pope Francis – spiritual leader to the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics – issued an encyclical called Laudato Si’: On Care of our Common Home. Although rooted in the long and deep tradition of Catholic social teaching, this encyclical is addressed not only to Catholics, but to all people of the world. In blunt terms, it draws attention to the nature of the grave ecological crisis that humanity has created, and it issues a moral clarion call for urgent action to protect the earth and its inhabitants from ruin.

Laudato Si: On Care for Our Common Home (Jeffrey D. Sachs, Columbia University)